Mhönos – LXXXVII (Review)

LXXXVII contains 44 minutes of ritualistic, droning doom. This is not music for those with a frail constitution.

The songs gradually build, gathering momentum as they do so. The band create otherworldly, occult atmospheres, through repetition and dark mood, usually bolstered by chants and incantations that seem to flow in broken, esoteric language from blackened lips. Surely this is music to summon underworld entities to?

The band are clearly adept at crafting this kind of downbeat, mysterious doom. As mentioned previously; there’s a large component of drone in their sound, but you can also detect elements of sludge and black metal here and there, buried in the endless doom.

LXXXVII is a dark, blackened proprietary blend of ritualistic, percussive doom, fusing elements of Neurosis, Venowl, Swans, 5ive, Sektarism, and Sunn 0))) into its grim embrace. It may not be pretty, but it certainly hits a certain hard-to-reach spot for anyone that enjoys immersing themselves in bleak, terrifying soundscapes.